The Optional Practical Training (OPT) US immigration program, which allows international students to remain in the US for up to three years to work after they graduate, has survived a legal challenge over its extension. However, the labor union that filed the lawsuit is set to appeal the ruling.
US District Court Judge for the District of Columbia, Reggie B. Walton ruled that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) had not overstepped its authority when expanding the OPT program, despite labor union, the Washington Alliance of Technology Workers (WashTech), claiming that it had.
Nearly 250,000 people participate in the OPT scheme. The standard OPT scheme allows a post graduate to work in the US for 12 months while the STEM OPT programme allows international students who earn a degree in science, technology, engineering or mathematics to remain in America for up to three years.
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A U.S. District Court judge issued an opinion last week upholding a program important to many in higher education that allows international students to stay and work in the U.S. after they graduate in a field related to their area of study.
Nearly a quarter million people participate in the optional practical training program, or OPT, which allows international students to work in the U.S. for up to three years after graduating while staying on their student visas. The regular OPT program provides for one year of postgraduation work authorization, while the STEM OPT extension enables graduates who earned degrees in science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields to stay for an additional two years.
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The Optional Practical Training Program for F-1 students (OPT) is not illegal, a federal judge has ruled in a case brought by Washington Alliance of Technology Workers (Washtech), a union representing workers in science, technology, mathematics, and engineering.
Criticism of OPT; Increased Scrutiny
Despite evidence that OPT is good for the economy and does not limit job opportunities for U.S. workers, opponents have questioned the program for years. In 2012, Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA) asked the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to investigate whether the program might undermine U.S. workers. Similarly, the Trump Administration has talked about reforming the OPT program since 2017, when a new proposed rule “intended to reduce fraud and abuse” appeared on the 2017 DHS Regulatory Agenda. While no large-scale reforms have materialized, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has increased scrutiny of the prog
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On November 30, 2020, a federal district judge in the matter of
Washington Alliance of Technology Workers v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security, et al., No. 16-1170, issued an order to uphold the Obama-era program permitting extensions of optional practical training (OPT) work authorizations for certain international students with qualifying science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) degrees.
By regulation, foreign students in F-1 visa status who graduate from U.S. universities or colleges can obtain twelve months of OPT work authorization following the completion of their degree programs. In 2016, the Obama administration extended the program so that F-1 students could obtain an additional two-year extension of the OPT work authorization if certain requirements were met, including holding degrees in qualifying STEM fields of study and working for employers registered with the federal E-Verify employment eligibility system. The STEM OPT program also established additional